Despite the ubiquitous use of metal complexes in organic reactions, a simple method for their removal has yet to be discovered. Unfortunately, residual metals often must be removed from the reaction mixture because they can interfere with subsequent transformations and can pose problems for shelf-life and use of the final product.
Current methods for removing metal complexes involve running the reactant mixture through numerous columns or other similarly rigorous purification strategies. In addition to being cumbersome, these procedures are time consuming and labor intensive. As uses for metal complexes increases, a simple and facile method for their removal is increasingly needed and desired.
The present invention generally relates to the discovery that the solubility of metal complexes may be readily manipulated by the addition of one or more solubility-enhancing compounds. In one embodiment of the present invention, the solubility-enhancing compounds are used to prepare samples containing metal complexes for precise quantitative analysis such as inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (xe2x80x9cICP-MSxe2x80x9d). In one embodiment of the invention, the relative solubilities between two solutions are manipulated so as cause the metal complex in a first solution (typically the reaction mixture) to transfer into a second solution that is generally immiscible with the first solution. The removal of the second solution thus also removes the metal complex from the reaction mixture. This embodiment is particularly useful for separating the metal complex from the reaction product.